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Ford unveils the Evos concept at CES in Las Vegas that previews the incredibly advanced driving experience of the next Mustang

It is fitting that the car that Ford may draw from for the new Mustang design is being introduced at a Consumer Electronics Show. After all, once we’re past the V8 and read-drive, the next generation Mustang is likely to be just another rolling internet connection like all new cars. This concept, now about one year into its global unveiling, is what Ford describes in press releases as its future design language. That means this is what its new cars will look like. However, that is really an afterthought as Ford highlights that the Evos is cloud connected. Ford describes the Evos as a “consumer-focused technology experience.”

Cloud InterconnectivityFord’s thinking with the Evos, and its cloud based interface, is that the Mustang will be able to see your schedule, and thus it can determine where you are likely headed. For example, if your schedule says "10:00, 21 Main Street Detroit” and the car notices it is 9:00, it will then know you are going to your meeting. The car will then think ahead to the route, possibly suggesting it, and then go a step further. The car will think ahead to the route and determine when it might use the electric propulsion vs. the gasoline engine to best make use of its power. Since the car has access to the cloud, and thus your customer management software, perhaps it might also pull up and display the Penske file so you can take one more glance before the meeting. While you go inside and earn the business, the car will note that it is near to lunch and look back at your prior lunch destinations in the area and then compile a list for you to choose when you return to the car. Paul Mascarenas, Ford chief technical officer and leader of the company’s global Research and Innovation team explains the Evos this way; “Today, drivers have to adapt to the features and capabilities of their car. The Evos Concept changes the paradigm of how you interact with your car. Our vision is that the car should seamlessly adapt to the driver taking the driving experience to a whole new level of personalization and convenience. The car gets to know you and can act as a personal assistant to handle some of the usual routines of a daily commute,”

Healthy DrivingPersonal health and well-being is also a part of the Evos concept. The idea is that the car will constantly be monitoring the driver’s activity inside the car. The car will also monitor the driver’s heart rate and make a determination about the driver’s overall stress level at that moment. For example, is the driver cruising the interstate listening to quiet music? Or is the driver in stop and go traffic and also searching the car’s infotainment system for something. Now imagine a call comes in to the car’s phone interface. With the driver’s pre-set permissions, the car will either route the call through if the driver is unstressed and in a safe driving situation to use the phone, or automatically route the call to voice mail if the driver is already too occupied with other things and too stressed to add yet another activity.

The Evos will certainly be a preview of the next Mustang and other future Ford vehicles in terms of what the auto industry thinks matters most going forward. The driver–electronics interface with the vehicle.